The disclosed invention relates to a voice discriminating system and is particularly embodied in a game apparatus that is voice-controlled.
There are prior art devices that are intended for discriminating between words such as "YES" and "NO" and for providing outputs indicative of the nature of the spoken sounds. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,126, issued to Klein on Aug. 29, 1972, discloses apparatus that is sound operated.
However, prior art devices have the major disadvantage of lacking accuracy and consistency in discriminating between voiced sounds (such as the word "NO") and voiced sound followed by unvoiced sound (such as the word "YES"). Moreover, none of the prior art devices are directed to sound inputs provided by two or more persons especially sounds which may partially overlap. Also, prior art devices lack sufficient dynamic range to be useful in an environment where a large amount of background noise is present. Further, prior art devices generally have to be adjusted for background noise.
Also, there are prior art devices that are controlled by sound. However, such prior art devices are generally responsive to the presence or absence of sound, and are not responsive to the nature of the sound. For example, such prior art devices may be responsive to a handclap or similar noise.
It is therefore an object of the subject invention to provide a voice discriminating system that is accurate and consistent.
A further object of the disclosed invention is to provide a voice discriminating system that has high immunity to background noise and has a large dynamic range.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a voice discriminating system that discriminates between sounds spoken by two or more persons.
Another object of the invention is to provide a voice discriminating system that is responsive to voiced and non-voiced sounds spoken by two or more persons and selects the sounds provided by the person who was first to speak.
A further object of the invention is to provide a voice discriminating system that can be used to control a game apparatus.
Another object of the invention is to provide a voice discriminating system that identifies which of two players was first to speak, and also identifies whether the spoken sound was, for example a "YES" or a "NO".
An object of the disclosed invention is also to provide a voice discriminating system that is responsive to predetermined sequences of voiced and non-voiced sounds.